


Double Trouble

by thewightknight



Series: The Meetcute Collection [10]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Poe Dameron/Finn side ship, blind dates, dessert swapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 04:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13092501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: Hux owed Finn a favor. Ben had made a promise to Poe. They were both dreading this blind date, but couldn't figure out how to get out of it. Good thing for them, right?





	Double Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> In part inspired by [this picture of Domhnall Gleeson](http://tomandlorenzo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Domhnall-Gleeson-Mother-London-Premiere-Red-Carpet-Fashion-Burberry-Tom-Lorenzo-Site-1.jpg). I had to write something about him in this suit.

“C’mon, Ben. You promised.” Poe wedged himself in between Ben and the arm of the loveseat. He jostled Ben’s arm and Ben swore as he fumbled his game controller, missing a shot. “Dinner with me and Finn and his coworker, remember? Tonight?”

He’d tried to forget. Poe had caught him at a good moment, high after a successful show, and had taken shameless advantage.

“I don’t know why you’re so insistent. You know my track record.”

“Sure, your dance card’s been empty for awhile, but it’s never going to fill up if you don’t get out there.” Poe bumped him again, deliberately this time, snorting as his character went down.

“Dance card? You need to lay off the Pride & Prejudice rewatches.”

“And you need to shower.” He could have kept Poe from taking the controller out of his hand, but then Poe would give him that look, half disappointed, half exasperated, and if Ben still refused to budge Poe would probably start raiding his chocolate stash. If he wanted to keep his Tim Tams safe, he needed to get Poe out of his apartment before Poe started rooting around in the kitchen cupboards.

“Who’s this guy again?”

Poe grinned as Ben ceded the controller, knowing he’d won. “Finn works with him. Says he’s really sharp, probably going to make VP before long. Youngest in the company’s history.”

He still needed to make Poe work for it.

“Yeah, that’s a selling point. Some corporate drone, probably a workaholic. Always stays late, misses dinner, forgets anniversaries. Great boyfriend material.”

“It’s not like that. He just needs a distraction. A big, muscley distraction with huge brown eyes and a great smile.” Poe worked the controller like a pro, taking down the big bad who’d just iced Ben a few minutes ago. “Oh, and he likes art. He’s got season tickets to the theater and a membership at the art institute. Never misses a premier.”

That didn’t sound too terrible. Sighing in defeat, he pushed himself up off the sofa.

Poe called out to him as he started towards the bedroom. “Oh, and wear that greyish green shirt, the one Rey gave you for Christmas. You know which one I mean. The clingy one.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“So, six thirty tonight, right?” Hux blinked, shaking his head at the interruption. He’d been so focused on his spreadsheets he hadn’t heard Finn come up behind him.

“Sorry?”

“Dinner, remember?”

Oh. Unfortunately he did. He’d needed some serious numbers crunching with a deadline looming and Finn had offered to finish them over the weekend in exchange for a favor. He’d expected tickets to a show or some sports event, so he’d agreed. And then Finn had insisted he meet his boyfriend’s friend.

“Just a dinner out, the four of us. Trust me. You’ll really like this guy,” Finn had said, and try as he might he hadn’t been able to find a believable excuse for backing out.

“Good choice on the suit, by the way. Ben won’t know what hit him.”

Hux hadn’t been thinking of tonight’s obligation when he’d gotten dressed. It had just happened to be the first bright, warm sunny day of the year, after weeks of dreary weather. The dark blue tropical wool suit, his personal favorite, had been the obvious choice for the day.

At least Finn had picked a decent restaurant. He’d tried to insist he’d pick up the tab, too, but Hux had promised, and even if he went heavy on the scotch it’d still run him less than tickets would have.

Assuring Finn he hadn’t forgotten, he tried to bury himself in his work again, but the turn of numbers on his digital clock kept reminding him of his looming fate.

He didn’t bother going home first. The restaurant was only a few blocks from work, and he left his car in the parking garage instead of trying to deal with finding a space on the street. That also removed the temptation of simply driving past the restaurant and hitting the highway. He arrived promptly at six-thirty to find Finn holding a booth for them on the bar side, but no side of Finn’s boyfriend or Hux’s blind date.

Finn looked up from his phone as Hux slid into the booth across from him. “Poe just texted. They’re looking for parking.”

As he settled, the waitress came around with a tray.

“First drink’s on me,” Finn insisted, and who was he to refuse a good single malt? He listened with half an ear to Finn’s attempts at small talk, but he reserved the majority of his attention for the door. Every time it opened he tensed. Previous blind dates had always ended horribly and he had no reason to expect this one would be any different. And then Poe did arrive. At his side stood a man with broad shoulders and meltingly sweet eyes and the softest-looking brown hair and he inhaled in surprise, choking on his scotch.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“There they are!”

After circling the same three blocks for the last fifteen minutes, Ben had been ready to throw in the towel, but Poe persevered and they’d ended up scoring a prime spot right outside the restaurant. They wove their way through the cluster at the bar, masses of office drones left over from happy hour, Poe leading them to a booth towards the rear.

They caught Finn in the process of slapping Ben’s blind date on the back. Introductions had to wait until his coughing fit subsided. That gave Ben a chance to recover. Even with tomato red cheeks and watering eyes, Finn’s coworker still to managed look sinfully handsome. He suffered a momentary flashback to the previous weekend, when Rey had insisted on binge watching all three seasons of Sherlock. Cheekbones you could cut yourself on, indeed.

Introductions were made as Poe took a seat next to Finn, leaving Ben no choice but to join this Hux fellow on the bench seat opposite them. Finn and Poe started up the conversation, taking turns volunteering facts they thought the other person should know. It should have been awkward and horrible but the lilt in Hux’s voice encouraged Ben to keep him talking.

He didn’t notice the waitress’ return but she must have come to their table again, because an array of appetizers arrived in the middle of a discussion of the current display of modern art at the institute. They had to be prodded to look at the menu when she arrived to take their orders. Poe smirked at him from across the table and Ben flipped him a bird under pretense of brushing his hair off his forehead.

Somehow, about two thirds of the way through his burger, Ben found himself sketching Hux’s profile on a napkin. Poe would never let him live this down. Staring into a pair of changeling eyes, he decided he didn’t care.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Your friends ordered you dessert.” Blinking in surprise, Hux looked over to find the other side of the booth empty. Finn and Poe had left, and he hadn’t noticed, caught up as he’d been in their debate on the merits of neo-minimalism. Ben had filled three napkins with sketches now, all various studies of his own face.

The waitress placed a slab of chocolate cake in front of him and a berry crumble to the side of Ben’s drawings. Seeing him eye the other dessert, Ben switched them before he could ask, stealing a spoonful of the ice cream that topped the crumble before he dug into his cake. The crumble melted in Hux’s mouth and the ice cream perfectly countered the tanginess of the berries. He must have made some sound, because Ben laughed.

“You’ve got a bit of berry there.” Instead of pointing, Ben wiped at the corner of Hux’s mouth, sucking the purple juice from his thumb and leaving Hux staring.

Although he was sure he had the superior treat, he still had to steal a bite of cake. Fair is fair, after all.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“I’m going to be hearing ‘I told you so’ from Finn for months,” Hux muttered as he wrestled with the lock on his door. He could feel the smile tugging at the lips that brushed the back of his neck.

“Worth it?”

“I’ll have to let you know tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a challenge.” Ben didn’t let go when the door closed behind them. He’d found that spot just behind Hux’s jaw that turned Hux’s knees to jelly during their first exchange of kisses under the flickering lights of the parking garage, and he kept coming back to it.

“If you keep that up I’m going to bruise there.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“I didn’t say that.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Finn popped up in Hux’s office right before lunch.

“How’s the project coming? Krennic’s starting to get snippy.”

“I should have it finished by this afternoon.” Hux stretched, wincing as his neck cracked.

“And how’s the apartment hunting going?”

“Not well. We need at least three bedrooms, so Ben can have a studio and keep Millicent away from his art.”

“What? No more paw print paintings?”

“Not on accident, no.” They’d hung that particular painting above Hux’s mantle.

They wanted at least three bedrooms, and ideally four. The few apartments they’d found that fit their requirements had been ridiculously overpriced and none of them had parking.

“We’re starting to look at houses,” he admitted. Finn didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The smug look on his face spoke volumes.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Where does this one go?” Poe shifted his grip on the box. Big black letters in sharpie, all caps, declared “office” on all four sides and the top of the cardboard.

“Bathroom,” Ben deadpanned.

“Right! Which one?”

Ben rolled his eyes. Hux had labeled every box and put up signage on every room in their new house. Poe remained cheerfully oblivious. Ben couldn’t find the wherewithal to care, because they had a house. They. The two of them. Ben and Hux. Had a house. He rolled the words around on his tongue as he set the box containing his paints on the floor of what would become his studio. He nearly bumped into Hux when he turned and grabbed for Hux’s elbow, steadying him.

“Hey there.” He could feel the goofy grin pulling at the corners of his mouth and decided not to fight it.

“Hey there yourself.” Ben reached for the box Hux held, but instead of taking it from him he put his hands over Hux’s, pulling him closer. The corners of the box dug into his chest as he leaned in for a kiss, but before it could start to get uncomfortable Finn called from the foyer.

“Hey, Mr. Genius Packer! There’s two bathrooms. Which one do you want these in?”

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Your tie’s still crooked.” It was barely noticeable, but Hux needed something to do with his hands. Of course things weren't running on time. They never did at these things and he'd built leeway into the schedule, but he still couldn't help fretting.

Kylo wasn't fooled. "It's fine Hux." He grabbed Hux's hands and covered his knuckles with kisses. "I don't know why you're so nervous. It's not like this is our wedding!"

"No, of course not." He had two rings on his person, Finn's in the breast pocket of his suit and another in a velvet case in the pocket of his slacks. He could feel it pressing into his leg as Kylo pulled him in.

"Mmm ... so weddings excite you? Good to know. We'll have to encourage more people we know to get married, then."

"Yes ... about that, dearest?"

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

The restaurant hadn't changed. Red and white checkered cloths still covered the scarred wood of the tables, clashing with the burgundy upholstery. They had made an attempt to update their menu, catering to some of the more unfortunate recent foodie trends.

"Grilled romaine Caesar? Really? Who eats warm lettuce?" Hux shuddered.

A few alterations had been made to the dessert menu as well. (What on earth was a  _ cookie quesadilla?) _ But they still had berry crisp and chocolate cake. Just to be silly, Hux ordered the cake and Kylo the crisp, and they swapped after their waitress brought them out.

Hux still stole bites of Kylo's cake.

Kylo drew a picture of their clasped hands on a napkin, fingers laced, their wedding rings touching.

Clinking their glasses together, Hux kissed his cheek. "Happy five year anniversary, dearest. Here's to fifty more."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want to say hi, [check out my profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/profile) for where I’m currently hanging out on this here internet thing.


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